You are here

Welcome to Greece!

A recent crime of the Greek state against refugees

And it is only one example of this policy

On the night of January 19 a boat with 28 refugees was caught by the Greek Coast Guard as it was trying to approach the shore of Farmakonisi, a Greek island. The Greek Coast Guard vessel instead of towing them ashore started to push them back towards the Turkish coast. As a result the boat was sunk and 12 of them – 9 children, 3 women – were drowned.

As UNHCR reports: “According to survivors’ testimonies, the Coast Guard boat towing their vessel was heading, at high speed, towards the Turkish coast, when the tragic incident happened amid rough seas. The same witnesses said people were screaming for help, since there were a large number of children on the boat”.

International organisations have condemned, several times, the policy of driving out migrants entering Greece without papers. UNHCR has requested explanations in the past from the Greek authorities about the mysterious “disappearance” of dozens of migrants by the Greek police, under circumstances that caused an international outcry against the Greek government.

In other cases, residents of peripheral islands have made the accusation that migrants surrendering to the port authorities, in order to be transferred to reception centres, never arrive there. The full announcement of the UNHCR is as follows:

“On the occasion of the incident in Farmakonisi UNHCR expresses its concern about the continued loss of human lives at sea, A fishing boat with 28 people onboard (25 Afghans and 3 Syrians), including many women and children, was overturned and sank in the early hours of Monday, Jan. 21, 2014, in the sea area of Farmakonisi. 16 of those on board were collected by the Coast Guard. A woman and a 5 year old child were found dead near the Turkish coast, while 10 more people (2 women and 8 infants and young children) are missing.

A UNHCR team went on Tuesday, Jan. 22, to the island of Leros, where the survivors had been transferred by the Coast Guard, and talked with them as well as the Port Authority. According to information from the Port Authority, the boat had been detected by the Coast Guard at midnight, Sunday, January 20, immobile and without navigation lights and, taking into account the situation and the bad weather conditions, a salvage operation was launched to tow it towards Farmakonisi.

During the operation, a large number of those on board were gathered on one side of the boat, which resulted in its overturn and sinking. However, according to survivors’ testimonies, the Coast Guard boat towing their vessel was heading, at high speed, towards the Turkish coast, when the tragic incident happened amid rough seas. The same witnesses said people were screaming for help, since there were a large number of children on the boat.

“UNHCR urges the authorities to investigate the circumstances under which the incident occurred, and how lives were lost in a boat being towed”, Laurens Jolles, Regional Representative of the High Commissioner for Southern Europe, said.

The UN Organisation for Refugees has made an appeal to European and other countries’ governments to work together in order to reduce casualties, when dangerous passages in the Mediterranean and other key maritime borders are followed.

The Organisation notes the need for further strengthening of the rescue operations at sea, and the creation of channels for legal migration so that dangerous, irregular movements are avoided."

Source: Infowar Translator: Eleni Nicolaou

But this was putting it in diplomat-speak.

Shocking reports about the murderous actions of the Greek Coast Guard presented by survivors of the tragedy in Farmakonisi, who were transferred to Piraeus today.

A father, who reportedly lost his four children and his wife, denounced that, on their attempt to climb on board the Coast Guard boat in order to save helplessly in themselves, they were being beaten and thrown back into the water by the Coast Guard, while children were swimming the sea.

The Greek government has an official policy of “making Greece inhospitable” to refugees, These deaths are murders. Murders by the Greek government. Murders by the EU and its ‘Fortress Europe’ strategy.

This is not the only case, as we regularly hear news of boat-people “disappearing”, “accidentally drowning” etc.

There are 24 concentration camps in Greece where thousands of immigrants are jailed, without them being accused of anything, while the Greek Junta receives more than 200 million euros every year from Europe to cover their expenses and/or repatriation. “Nobody” knows where this money goes”.

In evidence

The Communist Workers’ Organisation is (unsurprisingly!) a not-for-profit organisation. We have no so-called “professional revolutionaries”, nor paid officials. Our sole funding comes from the subscriptions and donations of members and supporters. Anyone wishing to donate (to “Prometheus Publications”) can now do so safely using the Paypal button below.

Take out a supporter’s sub by adding £10 (€12) to each sum. This will give you priority mailings of Aurora and other free pamphlets as they are produced.

Publications. CWO publications are not copy-righted and we only ask that those who reproduce them acknowledge the original source on our website www.leftcom.org. Purchasing any of the publications listed on this site or in our various documents can be done in several ways:

By emailing us at uk@leftcom.org and asking for our banking details

By writing a cheque to the “CWO” and sending it to BM CWO, London WC1N 3XX

By donating the cost of the publications required via Paypal using the “Donate” button

The book “Bordiga Beyond the Myth” by Onorato Damen can also be ordered via Amazon

Agenda

26 Jan
Dorking Public Meeting

NO WAR BUT THE CLASS WAR

PUBLIC MEETING/DISCUSSION

As capitalism’s economic crisis deepens our rulers are determined to make the working class pay for it by increasing exploitation and reducing wages and living conditions.

All across the world, the capitalists and their political puppets are also trying to prevent any united working class fightback by widening divisions in the working class, such as nationality, race, ethnicity, religion, gender and sexual preference. The xenophobia whipped up before and after the Brexit campaign, the Trump election campaign and the election campaigns of nationalist governments in Hungary and Poland are a few recent examples of what is happening and what is to come.

At the same time national states are trying to push the crisis onto capitalists of other states or blocs of states by trade wars. And history tells us that trade wars are the prelude to shooting wars. While imperialist proxy wars continue to rage in the Middle East, Africa and Eastern Europe, and while a new conflict with Iran is being stoked up, increasingly intense global conflicts are being prepared.

Nationalism is the main tool being used to recruit workers to support their rulers in these wars. No faction of the capitalist class is worth supporting and none is “a lesser evil”! The alternative is not to do nothing. There are already voices being raised under the banner of “No war but the class war!” to challenge the fate that the capitalists are preparing for us.

Join them in a public meeting to find out more and make your own contribution: